Swipe File #10: Give yourself permission to go pro

Traveling from Tucson to San Jose earlier this week, I came across a few design fails:

In the Tucson airport, the security line forms on an incline. When I reached for my boarding pass, my luggage rolled away.

The automatic soap dispensers in the bathroom are too close to the faucet, so it spits soap all over your wrist a few times while you wash your hands.

During a layover in San Diego, passengers had to exit the terminal and go through security again (with no explanation or apparent reason).

We've come to expect annoyances like this while traveling but it doesn't have to be this way. When it's your turn to design to the experience, put yourself in your users' shoes. A little testing goes a long way.

Did you know that Copyblogger's Brian Clark has a personal newsletter? It's called Further and it's designed to help "you maximize your purpose, performance, and potential." I find that it's always a good read.

Here's an excerpt from the most recent issue:

I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I wasn’t even sure I had a passion, much less one that would pay the bills.

I was a psychology major in college, simply because it interested me. I had no specific career objectives, so naturally I went to law school. At least my mom would be proud, I thought, if I pursued a professional career.

Indeed, I did become an attorney ... and hated it. Like a lot of unhappy attorneys, I “decided” that my passion was actually writing. Unlike most attorneys who become trapped by the salary and illusion of prestige, I quit my high-paying job after only four years and tried to make it happen.

Getting "lucky" is one of my all-time favorite themes (more on that in Issue #1). This is a great take on the topic from investor and author Ben Yoskovitz.

I have no idea if they’ll succeed. They probably won’t. But when they go to apply for a job, or look to raise money for a future startup, or whatever they choose to do, their previous efforts will help them stand out. I’d talk to them immediately if they were applying for work, just because they tried something. They stand out.

Growing a business is hard enough. Imagine if your product infuriated people enough to rally around their shared hatred of your business — creating websites, petitions, social media campaigns and viral videos to spread the word.

Now that is a business challenge. And it's exactly the one Keurig is facing now.

If you needed another reason not to drink pod-based coffee (besides it's bitter taste), look no further.

And because the K-Cup is made of that plastic integrated with a filter, grounds, and plastic foil top, there is no easy way to separate the components for recycling. A Venn diagram would likely have little overlap between people who pay for the ultra-convenience of K-Cups and people who care enough to painstakingly disassemble said cups after use.